The Island Trilogy
(The Island #1-3)
by Jen Minkman
Published July 1st 2014 by Jen Minkman
All three books of the Island series in one volume - The Island Trilogy is the perfect young adult dystopian read if you are looking for something different than usual!
From the isolated island of Tresco to the wild moors of Dartmoor, this far-reaching tale of lost children, strange belief systems and shattered societies will make you wonder about our own culture, today's world, and our place in it. How much of that world do we take for granted without asking why things are the way they are?
Included in this collection are:
THE ISLAND - On one side of the Island's great Wall, children must abandon their parents and fend for themselves from the age of ten. Leia is used to it - but she's always been curious about what lies beyond. Then she meets Walt, a young man from the other side of the Wall, where the Fools live...
THE WAVES - Walt lives in Hope Harbor, a pious town inhabited by people who patiently waits for the Goddess to come to the Island one day. She will take them away and save them. Or will she? When Walt's best friend and future leader of Hope Harbor is silenced when he questions the religion of old, Walt sets out and discovers the shocking truth about the island they live on and the people beyond the Wall.
THE DEEP - Leia and Walt sail away to the legendary world of Cornwall. They've been told that all wars of the past have been forgotten and the people there live in peace, adhering to the tenets of an old religion that preaches forgiveness and non-violence. However, on a trip to Exeter, the ancient city of their ancestors, they discover more about the new world than they ever bargained for.
I was given a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.
Imagine living on an island where the children are considered adults at the age of 10. When they become adults they have to leave their parent's home and go live at the manor; the big house on the island. The children will never live with their parents again and will never be more to them than a mere strange that they have passed on the street. The children go to the manor and learn to take care of themselves without any help from anyone. They can only leave the manor when they marry and then can live in the village where the parents live.
The children live by The Book that has been passed down through the generations from their ancestors. The Book tells them that they can't cross over the wall where others live that is known as the fools. The fools believe different from the children and the leader doesn't want them to find out the truth. But Leia wants to know the truth and sets out to find it. She wonders if they have been living a lie.
Walt (who is consider a fool by Leia and the children) lives on the other side of the wall from Leia and everyone on his side have been taught by their ancestors that Lady Annabelle lives across the water and that one day Lady Annabelle will be returning for them on a beautiful ship. Walt and his cousin Yorrick who just happens to be the son of the Bookkeeper, one who takes care of and reads all the books on the island, are starting to wonder if all they have been taught about Annabelle is true or not. They are beginning to think that they have been lied to all these years. Yorrick tells Walt that he thinks it is time he talks to the priest about what he has figured out by reading all of the books. Yorrick goes to the temple one morning and tells the priest that he doesn't believe Lady Annabelle exists. Walt gets in trouble at school and decides to leave early and go meet Yorrick a little earlier than was planned. When he gets there he sees Yorrick stretching getting ready for his run. Walt sees someone rushing toward Yorrick and before Walt can comprehend what is going on and warn Yorrick the guy pushes Yorrick off the cliff. Walt thinks that the person that pushed him off the cliff was an unbeliever from the other side of the wall. Walt goes for help to rescue Yorrick but he doesn't tell anyone that he was pushed off the cliff he is afraid that whoever killed Yorrick will kill him if he tells.
But Leia wanted to know the truth and it was time for someone to stop Saul. Leia's life became endangered so she ran away and climbed over the wall to the other side to meet with her new friend Walt a "Fool" who lived on the other side. Walt helped to keep her safe from Saul. Leia found out that Walt and the people who lived on the other side of the wall were not such bad folks after all. Walt and the "Fools" believed that their Goddess Annabelle was coming back for them one day. So they were always on the lookout for Annabelle's return.
Leia and Walt both wonder if there was anything else out there or other people. Are there other people across the water or were they the only people left alive? Their new friend Tony who came from across the water told them that there were other people out there and that there was a whole other world across the water. Leia and Walt along with some of the other people on the island wanted to go see what was across the water. So Tony took them on a long voyage across the water to meet these other people.
I am going to miss all of the characters in this series. I would like to go along with them on their new voyage and to be with them when they reach their destination. Will Walt and Leia finally tie the knot? Will they have a family of their own? What will they tell their children? What will they teach their children to believe in? You know it really doesn't matter as long as they are good people and parents.
Have you read "The Island" Series? No? Then what are you waiting for? Go grab your copy today and get started. It is one of the best and I mean best series ever written. If you have an open mind and can handle reading something that is way different than anything that you have read before then jump on board and let the light in.
An Interview with Jen Minkman:
Where did you get your idea for writing The Island Trilogy?
I started out by thinking 'what if'. What if the world in a far-away future was so radically different, yet so similar, to our own, that the reader wouldn't know what had happened to it right until the end? That's what I wanted to do in Book 1, The Island.
When you got this idea for writing The Island Trilogy was it like a light bulb kind of moment or did the idea come upon you gradually?
The first book was definitely a light bulb! The second and third came to me gradually, mostly because readers were asking for sequels and I initially hadn't anything planned - The Island was a novella for a writing contest in Holland (my home country).
Was writing The Island Trilogy harder or easier for you to write than one of your other novels?
I think it was a bit easier to write books 2 and 3 because I already had characters to work with! Also, The Island Trilogy is set in a mostly made-up world, so I didn't have to do a lot of research. That was very different from the others novels I wrote, since Shadow of Time was set on the Navajo reservation (which I'd never visited before writing the book) and The Space In Between was set in Wales (in a town I'd never visited either).
Did you enjoy writing The Island Trilogy?
Of course! If not, I would never have even considered writing books 2 and 3. I loved revisiting the characters and get to know them better with each book.
When you wrote the first book The Island at that time did you have any plans for a second book or even a third book?
No, because The Island was specifically written for a dystopian writing contest and it had a limitation of 20,000 words. Once I published it in English I kept reading reviews that said: but I want to know MORE! So I caved and wrote a book 2, and then my mom said there should be a book 3, so I wrote that too :
What made you decide to write a second and third book?
Mostly reader feedback. I figured I had the obligation to tell my readers what was on the other side of the island (book 2, The Waves) and then I just had to tell them what would happen once the island people crossed over to the other side to visit Dartmoor. Fortunately, I've been to Dartmoor myself tons of times so I had a lot of inspiration.
How do you decide on the name of the characters?
In the case of Leia, it wasn't hard (but you'll have to read the book to find out why!). In all the other cases, the names just sort of come to me. I always liked coming up with names when I drew fairies or other mythological creatures when I was younger, so I never run dry, really.
Where is your favorite place to write?
It used to be at home, but lately I've been getting too distracted at home. Also, I now write three days a week, and I like having a 'workday' feeling about it so I sit in the library these days. When the library is closed I go to Bagels and Beans and stuff myself with nice food while writing!
Do you like listening to music when you write?
Sometimes. There are days when it distracts me. I do listen to music before writing, though, to get into the right mood. Also, I tend to write songs for my books (soundtracks, if you will). You can listen to them on my site!
About The Author:
Jen Minkman (1978) was born in Holland, in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn. When she was 19, she moved between The Hague, Salzburg (Austria), Brussels (Belgium) and Cambridge (UK) to complete her studies in intercultural communication. She is currently a teacher of English, career counsellor and teenage coach at a secondary school in Voorburg, Holland. She tries to read at least 100 books a year (and write a few, too!). She is a published author in her own country, and translates her own books from Dutch into English for self-publication.
In her spare time, she plays the piano, the guitar and the violin. For every novel she writes, she creates a soundtrack.
'I have always been drawn to writing. My first book was a sci-fi novel at the age of eight, which I painstakingly typed out on my dad's typewriter and illustrated myself. Nowadays, I stick to poetry, paranormal romance, chick lit and/or fantasy. In my home country, I am the first-ever published writer of paranormal romance, and I will gradually make my books also available in English (seeing I have to re-write and translate the books myself, this will take some time!).
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